Leading an independent grocery store has never been as difficult as it is now.

Now the popular GM Development Program is more flexible than ever, to help your store adapt and thrive!

Leading an independent grocery store has never been as difficult as it is now. And leading a multi-stakeholder organization like a cooperative brings additional complexities to an already challenging role. To be successful in leading a food co-op, a leader must have an array of technical expertise as well as strong leadership skills. This is where we come in to provide things like:

Key benefits

  • Columinate’s consultants/instructors are experts and leaders in their subject matter.

  • We help your GM develop a network of expert resources that will be in place long after the classes are over.

  • We work with your independent grocery store’s actual documents and situations, as much as possible.

  • Our instructors will refer your GM to additional educational opportunities, many of which are available at a low or no cost.

The purpose of this GM Development Program is to create an initial framework/curriculum for an incoming General Manager, and the GM Trainee, to be fully oriented, trained, and supported in their new position so that the GM and the co-op are both poised for success. We work with each individual co-op to co-create the best plan to match their needs.

The Complete GM Development Program is designed to leverage best practices in other food co-ops and expertise but is also designed to recognize and support the unique offerings and opportunities that each co-op will have that may be different than some existing food co-ops.

Build the right STACK for you!

It is great to be able to promote from within a co-op or organization. Individuals who have worked their way up through the ranks to become the GM can possess a high degree of understanding about that specific organization, staff and business. But they may not have the experience overseeing strategic development and management of the business goals, the full picture of asset management and cash flow, or be fluent in their understanding of the board and GM relationship. The GM Development program for these individuals might typically include:

  • Leadership Module: Assessing and building a plan to become the leader that they will need to be. A deep analysis followed by work with an executive coach will help them become a strong strategic thinker and master executive communication strategies.
  • Selected Coursework in the Oversight Module: GMs promoted into first time GM roles often need directed studies in higher level oversight responsibilities. Their coursework might include:
    • Accounting and Financial Document Literacy:
    • Achieving Financial Metrics:
    • Board Relations and Governance:
    • Building and Managing Your Image and Marketing:
    • Building and Managing your HR Practices:
  • Selected Hands-On Training

Sometimes if a GM’s experience lies mostly in one department, they would need some augmentation to learn effective oversight of the other key areas of the store. This can be at their store with trainers coming on site or can be done through off-site host store training opportunities.

This is another common path for many GMs. These are individuals who may have a lot of grocery retail oversight expertise and so may not need as much store training. They may have been expert implementers in their previous roles but may have not ever been responsible for creating the plan. A typical development stack for these GMs may be:

  • Leadership Module: Assessing and building a plan to become the leader that they will need to be. A deep analysis followed by work with an executive coach will help them become a strong strategic thinker and master executive communication strategies.
  • Selected Coursework in the Oversight Module: GMs promoted into first time GM roles often need directed studies in higher level oversight responsibilities. Their coursework might include:
    • Accounting and Financial Document Literacy
    • Board Relations and Governance
    • Building and Managing Your Image and Marketing
    • Co-op Culture, Diversity and Engaging Stakeholders
  • Store Visits, Operational Audits & Building Peer Network Module:

Participating in some guided store visits can help a new GM from outside the co-op or independent grocery world, build a broader perspective of the new retail environment, and see live examples of how other stores in their size or category, are building engaging shopping experiences. In addition to practicing quick store audit and assessment skills, these guided tours offer the chance to speed up that networking timeline by directly introducing them to their new peers.

Sometimes a veteran GM or those aspiring to become GMs just want to sharpen their skills and perspective in a specific area like Financial management, co-op culture, or board & GM relationship, for example. We can work with GMs and aspring GMs to build a targeted stack of coursework or store audits to build the expertise in whatever specific area they seek.

  • Accounting and Financial Document Literacy: Audrey Griffin
  • Achieving Financial Metrics: Jeanie Wells
  • Board Relations and Governance: Leslie Watson and Jeanie Wells
  • Leveraging Data and Strong Category Management: Scot DeStasio and Jen Christopher
  • Building and Managing Your Image and Marketing: Rebecca Torpie
  • Building and Managing your HR Practices: Sarah Dahl
  • Co-op Culture, Diversity and Engaging Stakeholders: Thane Joyal and James Morrell

Ready to get started?

Potential Program Modules

We will conduct an initial skills assessment to determine which classes would offer the greatest return on investment for both the grocery store and the GM. A grocery store may select and combine as many different modules and courses as needed to achieve the desired individualized development goals.

Build the plan that's right for you!

This program is designed to allow each incoming GM to choose the learning modules based on their specific experiences and needs. Ready to jump in? Schedule a free consultation to help you create your own customized development plan to be successful. By helping facilitate this mixing and matching of development modules into a General Manager’s own unique customized development plan, you can truly help a GM can build strength just where they need it and ready them for the road ahead.

Let’s get started!

Fill out our form and a GM Development Program Specialist will reach out to you to schedule an introductory call.

Our specialist will describe each component and build a custom plan to suit your individual needs.

Indicate the modules you are interested in:
Select any of the available components to start building your custom plan!

What Our Participants Say

For More Information

Find an Expert

Together, our consultants help you operate better, so your impact is greater. The sole mission of our team is to outfit your community for sustainable success.